Billy Corgan haș defended his friendship with Marilyn Manson, insisting that just because he stood by the rocker amid sexual abuse allegations, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have “an opinion”.
Manson - whose real name is Brian Warner - has had a number of lawsuits brought against him over allegations of sexual abuse, but none have made it to court as yet.
And in January, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced his office will not be pursuing charges following a four-year investigation as they "cannot prove" the abuse allegations "beyond a reasonable doubt" and other claims exceeded the statute of limitations.
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Corgan was asked about his longtime friendship with the disgraced rocker during an interview on The New York Times’ Popcast podcast, and replied: “As a Christian person, you have to stand by your friends, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have an opinion, and that doesn’t mean you’re not critical.”
He added: “I personally didn’t feel he was guilty of the things he was being charged with, and ultimately the fact that the D.A. didn’t pursue.”
Corgan added: “I don’t want the world to tell me who my friends are and who I should associate with.”
The musician continued: “Anyone in that situation struggles with the accusations, the seriousness of the accusations. But again, I also knew the inside baseball of the case.
“I knew certain people who were involved. And so you make those evaluations.”
He also said that while he isn’t saying he has “any moral supremacy”, he believes it should be considered on a “case-by-case basis”.
Corgan continued: ““If he’s guilty or anybody in that situation is guilty, they should go to jail. I’m not saying I have any moral supremacy here.
“I’m saying it’s a case-by-case basis. This kind of witch mob thing bothers me.”
While Manson didn’t directly comment on Corgan’s podcast interview, he did “like” a video of the chat when it was shared on Instagram.